Knife



Patented Apr. 10, 1923.

UNITED STATES;

PATEN i orFicE.

LANVGDON B. BATES, or 'rrroivrnsroiv, MAINE.

KNIFE.

' Application filed April 13, 1922. Serial at. 552,178.

1 To all whom it mag concern:

for positively locking the blade respectively in opened and closedpositions, and means forr'eleasin'g said locking means.

As a further object the invention contemplates in connection with'aknife of the char acter described, means operable upon releasing of themeans for locking the blade in closed position, for effecting aninitialopening movement of the blade. 6

As. a still further object the invention contemplates a folding knifewhich is comparatively simple in its construction and operation,inexpensive to manufacture, and strong and durable in its structure.

With the above recited and other objects in "iew, the inventionresidesin the novel construction set forth inthef followingspecification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that theright is reserved to embodiments other than those actually illustratedherein to the full extent indicated by the general meaning of the termsin which the claims are expressed.

In-the drawings- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through aknife constructed in accordance with the invention, illustrating theblade locked in closed condition.

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the blade released and partlyopened.

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the I blade locked in openposition.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged detail longitudinal sectional View.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, 10 designates thehandle of a jackknife which is provided with a central longitudinallyextending recess "11 within one end of which the blade 12 is pivoted by7 means of a pivot pin 13, A leaf spring 1 1 is mounted within therecess and is provided at its free terminal with a finger 15 whichcoa-cts respectively with the notches 16 and 17 of the blade to retainand lock the same respectively in its closed and opened positions. Inorder to provide means for flexing the leaf'spring 14 to disengage thefinger 15 from the :notches 16 and 17 whereby to release the blade foropening or closingmovement, a lever 18 is employed which is pivotedwithin the recess by means of a pivot pin.

19, -the free terminal of said lever being bent laterally to provide amanipulating portion 20. The opposite terminal is provided with anextension 21 which when the knife is! closed is'normally disposed in thepath of movement of the lug or projection 22 formedon the blade wherebyto perform the dual function of an'auxiliary lock against opening of theblade and at the same time-to-engage with and 'fiex the leaf spring 1 1for the purpose of releasing or disengap' ing the finger 15 from thenotches 16 and 1 I In order to provide means for automatically effectingan initial opening movement of the blade upon release of the extension21 from the lug or extension 22 and the finger 15 from the notch 16, asecond spring 23 is employed which is secured at one extremity by therivetsv 24 within the recess and is provided at its opposite end with alaterally 'bent terminal 25 which receives and engages the notch 26 inthe blade.

In use and operation when the knife is closed as illustrated in Fig. 1the finger 15 engages the notch 16 to lock the blade against opening.Simultaneously the extension 22 of the lever 18 is disposed in the pathI of movement of the lug or extension 22 of the blade. In this positionthe terminal 25 p of the spring 23 engaged by the notch 26 of the bladeplaces the spring 23 under tension. When it is desired to open the knifethe operator engages the thumb or finger nail under the manipulatingportion or terminal 20 ofthe lever 18 which overlies the handle and bymoving the same away from'the handle throws the extension 21 out of thepath of movement of the lug or extension 22 of the blade, at the sametime flexing the leaf spring 11 to disengage the finger 15 from thenotch 16 of the blade. The spring 23 will then function to effect aninitial opening operation of the blade to inform the operator theblade'is free to be swung to entire open position; When the blade hasbeen swung to its extreme open position, the finger l5 willengage andcoact with the notch to disengage the finger 15 from the notch 17.

I claim: 1. The combination with afolding knife 'including a handle anda blade pivoted thereto having notched portions therein, of resilientmeans having a locking extremity adapted to respectively engage with thelooking notches for positively retaining and locking said blade inopened or closed positions, and means carried by said handle andengageable With the locking means for effecting the release thereof,said releasing means having an element thereof normally disposed in thepath of movement of a portion of the blade when in closed position toconstitute an auxiliary means for locking the same in closed position.

2. The combination with a folding knife including a handle and a bladepivoted thereto having notched portions therein, of resilient meanshaving a locking extremity adapted to respectively engage with thelocking notches for positively retaining and locking said blade inopened or closed positions, means carried by said handle and engageablewith the locking means for effecting the release thereof, said releasingmeans having an element thereof normally disposed in the path ofmovement. of a portion of the blade when in closed position toconstitute an aux- I ihary means for locking the same in closedposition, and means engageable by the blade when in closed positionadapted upon release of the locking means to effect an initial openingmovement of the blade.

3. The combination with a folding knife including a handle and a bladepivoted thereto, of means for positively locking and spring to disengagethe finger from said notches to release the blade for free pivotalmovement, and a lever pivotally associated with said handle and adaptedupon manipulation to flex the spring for releasing the finger from saidnotches, an extension on said blade constituting together with the leveran auxiliary locking means when the lever is in normal position forretaining the blade in closed position.

LANGDON B. BATES.

